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Actually, it's the "spider" daddy long legs that I'm talking about (although I've heard too that they're not really spiders) and I'm pretty glad to have them get eaten... I really don't like them.

I've heard the winged ones called both crane flies and mosquito eaters.

I wonder if they are actually attracted to the leaves like other insects are... it would kind of make sense that only the body would get trapped if it was trying to eat something.

Come to think of it, we went on vacation a month ago, and had to have our "pets" watched by my father in law. They weren't in the best lighting conditions for two weeks, and that's right about when this VFT exploded like it did. The leaves are longer than the ones in the pic- the pot is 3", and the leaves have spread across about an 8" diameter.

Two weeks in bad light could be a contributing factor added to the legs sticking out of the trap! I fed one of my traps a large fly. Too large. There is 2 legs sticking out. So far so good though, the trap is not dying, but it's been working on the fly for about 5 days now.

Maybe crane fly is the proper name for it, sounds about right! I've just heard it referred to as a mosquito eater probably by people (including myself until now) who didn't know it's proper name!

To be correct it doesnt eat mosquitos, it feeds on nectars. it is actully the male of the common mosquito. The small ones that bite are all females. Why it is called a mosquito eater? your guess is as good as mine.

"We're terrible animals. I think that the Earth's immune system is trying to get rid of us, as well it should." - Kurt Vonnegut

The "spider" daddy long legs to which I was referring is a member of order Opiliones- which is also an arachnid, but a non poisonous one. They are apparenlty also called Harvestmen, though I've never heard that in person. They can't spin webs. Their bodies aren't divided into two sections like spiders, and whereas spiders usually have eight eyes, Opilionids have a maximum of two. They feed on dead vegetation and animal matter, and are completely harmless. (Though I still hate them.)

There is an actual spider called a "daddy long legs", family Pholcidae. They are also called cellar spiders, but they look like a spider with long legs, not a freakish wall crawly thing like Opilionids. All the references to them I found were European.

The picture above is family Tipulidae, genus Tipula, and crane fly seems to be the most common name for them, though I found a lot of references to "daddy long legs" as well. From what I've found, they don't feed in the adult stage. Apparently European crane flies are getting to be a huge pest in the Pacific Northwest US and Canada, as their larvae feed on root systems of lawn grass.

Just thought I'd share the findings...

BEATNIK

Edit: I had a huge problem with fungus gnats a little while ago. They were buzzing in clouds over my plants. Until the first pitcher opened on my nepenthes... now they're gone.

There is one species of daddy long legs that is the most poisinous (spelling?) spider in the world. But because the fangs are too weak to pierce through human skin, it is no threat to us. I heard that from my science teacher a while back, just thought I'd add that little interesting tid bit of info.